If the next president of the United States has his way, at least three oil industry executives or advocates will serve at the top of his administration.

The latest nomination was just made Monday with Rex Tillerson being named Donald Trump’s pick for U.S. Secretary of State.

CCTV America’s Sean Callebs for Insight into how environmentalists are viewing these picks.

U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump has said he doesn’t want to “take a wrecking ball” to Barack Obama’s legacy.

But one issue he appears to be targeting, is climate change. Trump has said climate change was dreamed up by China to gain an advantage over U.S. manufacturers. While he has backed off that claim, Trump’s cabinet choices are making environmentalists nervous.

Heading into New York’s Trump plaza – the seat of power for the incoming administration – Vice-President-Elect Mike Pence weighed in on the choice of Rex Tillerson to be the top U.S. diplomat.

“We just couldn’t be more grateful that someone of Rex Tillerson’s proven leadership and accomplishments would be willing to step forward and serve our nation as the next secretary of state,” Pence said.

It’s becoming a pattern in Donald Trump’s cabinet selections picking business leaders, with a history of choosing development over the environment. Tillerson is CEO of Exxon Mobil. It is the only place he’s ever worked. He has strong ties with Moscow- and is an outspoken supporter of drilling for oil in the arctic.

Tillerson’s selection comes on the heels of trump selecting Oklahoma attorney general Scott Pruitt– to head the U.S. environmental protection agency – the same agency he’s maligned for having what he calls “an activist agenda.”

Those lawsuits will be filed by organizations trying to hold the line on environmental legislation in the United States.

But Pruitt is a close ally of the fossil fuel industry. And under the Paris accord, the United States signed a pact pledging to reduce fossil fuel consumption to limit global warming. Former Texas governor Rick Perry is trump’s choice to head the us energy department.

Despite the name –the energy department is critical to us homeland security. Among its roles — developing nuclear weapons and maintaining U.S. nuclear power plants.

In an ironic twist – Perry is now tapped to head the agency he wanted to cut when he ran for president in the last election–but famously forgot during a nationally televised debate.

Trump also vows to end the “U.S. war on coal” –and find a way to preserve rapidly dwindling coal mining jobs which many critics find staggering in the face of a warming global environment.

---

Aminah Zaghab on environmentalists concerned about US climate policy

Can the U.S. simply back out of the Paris climate change agreement if president Trump wants to?

CCTV America’s Elaine Reyes spoke to Aminah Zaghab. She’s an advocate for global warming solutions at Environment America.